Written Answers Wednesday 25 May 2005

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Mr Andrew Arbuckle (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many farmers are claiming their Single Farm Payment entitlement based on land outwith Scotland.

Ross Finnie: The Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS), a mandatory EC requirement for the control of CAP agricultural subsidies, defines a farm business as all the production units managed by a farmer situated within the same member state’s territory. Certain of these businesses submit cross border IACS Single Farm Payment applications to the country containing the majority of land. My department expects 84 Scottish area (SFP) aid applications to include English land. Similarly, there will be 78 English area aid applications, which will include Scottish land and three area aid applications from Northern Ireland with Scottish land.

Ambulance Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-15713 by Mr Andy Kerr on 5 May 2005, how many urgent requests for an ambulance were made by GPs in (a) 2002-03, (b) 2003-04 and (c) 2004-05 and, of these, how many were met within an hour of the request being made, broken down by NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is set out in these tables:

  GP Urgent Calls for 2002-03

  

Health Board
Total GP Urgent Calls With An Agreed 1 Hour Time Factor
Achieved Within 1 Hour


Argyll and Clyde
5,035
3,615


Ayrshire and Arran
473
411


Borders
41
25


Dumfries and Galloway
281
242


Fife
235
198


Forth Valley
190
152


Grampian
2,015
1,757


Greater Glasgow
1,713
861


Highland
1,468
1,317


Lanarkshire
3,887
2,358


Lothian
200
125


Orkney
175
161


Shetland
89
81


Tayside
291
240


Western Isles
287
260


Grand Total
16,380
11,803



  GP Urgent Calls for 2003-04

  

Health Board
Total GP Urgent Calls With An Agreed 1 Hour Time Factor
Achieved Within 1 Hour


Argyll and Clyde
3,203
2,332


Ayrshire and Arran
76
60


Borders
12
7


Dumfries and Galloway
30
24


Fife
56
42


Forth Valley
49
37


Grampian
1,405
1,325


Greater Glasgow
2,064
858


Highland
1,067
1,018


Lanarkshire
2,335
1,278


Lothian
160
101


Orkney
69
64


Shetland
39
38


Tayside
73
51


Western Isles
244
234


Grand Total
10,882
7,469



  GP Urgent Calls for 2004-05

  

Health Board
Total GP Urgent Calls With An Agreed 1 Hour Time Factor
Achieved Within 1 Hour


Argyll and Clyde
213
140


Ayrshire and Arran
141
85


Borders
13
6


Dumfries and Galloway
45
18


Fife
31
15


Forth Valley
37
26


Grampian
1,635
1,620


Greater Glasgow
234
82


Highland
1,154
1,137


Lanarkshire
260
126


Lothian
68
42


Orkney
113
112


Shetland
56
56


Tayside
42
26


Western Isles
281
280


Grand Total
4,323
3,771



  The percentage figures provided in the answer to question S2W-15713 were calculated on the basis of all urgent calls received by the ambulance service, most of which are from GPs. Percentages calculated from the figures given above will therefore differ very slightly from those provided in the previous answer.

  The time for ambulance response agreed between the ambulance service control room and a GP is a guideline and not a target. An ambulance tasked to respond to a GP urgent call may be diverted to respond to a category A (life threatening) call if it can provide the quickest response to that call. Such a diversion would be communicated to the GP or the patient. Where a GP decides that a patient’s need for an ambulance is urgent, the GP will dial 999 and the call will be categorised (where appropriate) as category A leading to an immediate ambulance response.

Ambulance Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-15713 by Mr Andy Kerr on 5 May 2005, what evidence it has to indicate that "the reduction in performance in some areas, especially those with sizeable urban conurbations, may be seen as an indicator of the progress the Scottish Ambulance Service is making towards delivery of its eight minute response time target for category A (life threatening) calls" and whether it is able to evaluate this progress.

Mr Andy Kerr: Ambulance service figures provided in the answer to question S2W-16528, answered on 25 May 2005, show that in the period since August 2002, when the priority based dispatch system was first introduced, the number of GP urgent calls has fallen substantially – from about 16,000 a year to around 4,300. The priority based dispatch system enables ambulance controllers to direct the most appropriate ambulance resource to category A (life threatening) incidents. At the same time, the proportion of category A cases responded to within eight minutes has increased from 54% in April 2004 to 60% in April 2005. The ambulance service believes that the reduction in GP urgent calls is at least partly attributable to GPs dialling 999 to request an ambulance for patients, in the knowledge that the priority based despatch system will ensure that calls are prioritised appropriately. The ambulance service constantly monitors its performance towards the target of responding to 75% of category A calls in eight minutes by March 2008.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Ambulance Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-15713 by Mr Andy Kerr on 5 May 2005, what percentage of category A (life threatening) calls were answered by an ambulance within eight minutes and what its target rate is for such responses.

Mr Andy Kerr: The target set for the ambulance service is that, by March 2008, 75% of Category A (life threatening) calls will receive a response within eight minutes. In April 2005, the service achieved performance of 60.2%, up from 54.3% in the corresponding month a year earlier. The ambulance service has assured me that it is on track to meet the March 2008 target.

Bridges

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Forth Estuary Transport Authority regarding Forth road bridge prepaid voucher holders having to pay an additional 18p per crossing in cash as a consequence of the recent increase in tolls on the bridge.

Nicol Stephen: Executive officials have discussed with the authority the use of discount vouchers at the bridge since the tolls rose on 1 May 2005, in general terms. However, the management and operation of the bridge, including the discount terms and arrangements, are a matter for the authority itself.

Fuel Duty

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had, or plans to have, with (a) Her Majesty’s Government and (b) representatives of the pleasure craft sector regarding EU proposals that would remove the derogation that allows pleasure craft owners to use red diesel.

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to any concerns that the pleasure craft sector in Scotland might have regarding EU proposals that would remove the derogation that allows pleasure craft owners to use red diesel.

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had, or plans to have, with Her Majesty’s Government regarding any further removals by the European Union of derogations from sectors that can currently use red diesel.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive has no powers in relation to fuel duties, however we are in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including taxation of fuel.

  A meeting between Scottish Executive officials and the British Marine Federation to discuss this issue has been arranged.

Health

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average annual cost incurred by the NHS was for people aged (a) under one, (b) one to four, (c) five to 15, (d) 16 to 24, (e) 25 to 44, (f) 45 to 64, (g) 65 to 74, (h) 75 to 84 and (i) over 85 in the last five years for which figures are available.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is provided in the following table. Figures are available for the last three years and in the age bands shown in the following table.

  Average Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) Costs per capita, 2003-04 to 2005-06

  

Age Band
2003-04 (£)
2004-05 (£)
2005-06 (£)


0-4
3,169
3,614
3,777


5-14
196
237
268


15-24
263
291
322


25-44
369
403
444


45-64
527
567
626


65-74
1,066
1,149
1,263


75-84
2,048
2,215
2,425


85+
3,722
3,956
4,423



  Source: Scottish Executive

  Notes:

  1. HCHS costs cover: Acute, Community, Maternity, Care of Elderly, Learning Disabilities and Mental Illness.

  2. Maternity costs have been fully allocated to the 0 to 4 age band.

Health

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive during which period the education and welfare building in John Street, Glasgow, provided services to the NHS.

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive in what capacity the education and welfare building in John Street, Glasgow, provided services to the NHS.

Mr Andy Kerr: Since the late 1970’s NHS Greater Glasgow has used the building as a HQ of Occupational Health Services. Occupational Health remained there until March 2001 and the service has since been re-housed in the Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

Life Expectancy

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish a graph showing the average life expectancy of (a) men and (b) women in each year from 1979 to 2005.

Tavish Scott: The information requested is given in Life expectancy at birth 1979 to 2005 , a copy of which has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 36549).

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the staff sickness levels have been in each (a) prison and (b) young offenders institution in each of the last three years.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The information below reflects working days lost per member of staff, calculated by dividing the number of sickness days by the number of staff. This reflects the standard measure utilised across the Civil Service.

  

Establishment
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04


Aberdeen
15
16
15


Barlinnie 
10
16
15


Castle Huntly
6
8
10


Cornton Vale
19
21
20


Dumfries
18
15
18


Edinburgh
13
14
12


Glenochil
15
12
11


Greenock
10
10
12


Inverness
11
13
10


Low Moss
16
12
16


Noranside
9
8
5


Perth
10
10
9


Peterhead
7
6
11


Polmont 
13
13
14


Shotts
15
17
20

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to implement recommendations made by Sheriff Croan in his fatal accident report of November 2004 in respect of the appointment of designated watch officers in prisons.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  Sheriff Croan’s determination in the fatal accident inquiry related to Premier Custodial Group Ltd., not to the Scottish Prison Service. There was, therefore, no recommendation for SPS to implement.

Prison Service

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-15607 by Colin Boyd QC on 18 April 2005 and S2W-16102 by Cathy Jamieson on 4 May 2005, whether the alleged falsification of watch logs constitutes a failure to comply with agreed reporting procedures at HM Prison Kilmarnock incurring performance points under Schedule F to the Minute of Agreement between the Secretary of State for Scotland and Kilmarnock Prison Services Limited for the Design, Construction, Management and Financing of a Prison at Kilmarnock .

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  No. HM Prison Kilmarnock adhered to the agreed reporting procedures and notified SPS as soon as they became aware of the alleged incident.

Public Sector Buildings

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Her Majesty’s Government pays rates on buildings and land that it rents or owns in Scotland and, if so, how much revenue this generates annually for the Executive and Scottish local authorities.

Mr Tom McCabe: Government departments pay rates on the buildings they occupy. Information is not held centrally by the Scottish Executive on the rates paid by UK Government Departments for the buildings they occupy in Scotland. In 2004-05, the total amount of non domestic rate income collected by councils in Scotland is estimated to be £1.8 billion.

Roads

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what improvements have been made to the A96 in each of the last six years and what improvements are scheduled to be carried out in the future.

Nicol Stephen: A significant number of projects have been undertaken to improve the A96 during the last six years and further improvements to the A96 are being prepared. These various improvements are listed in the following tables split between major construction works completed or under construction, road safety works completed, other construction works completed and future works planned.

  Major Construction Works

  

Location
Completion Date


Newtongarry Climbing Lane
2004


Coachford realignment –
Under construction.
  Completion programmed 2005



  Future Major Construction Works

  

Location
Planned Start of Works


Fochabers and Mosstodloch Bypass
2006


Threapland junction improvement
2007


Delnies road improvement
2007



  Road Safety Works

  

Measure
Location


Anti-skid surfacing
Inveramasay, Oyne Fork, Ardgilzean, Keith School, Tesco, Keith, Auchmill Road Aberdeen


Accident Investigation and Prevention improvements
Binhill, Whinbrae and Dramlachs climbing lanes


Signing and lining improvements
Cullernie, Broomhill.Old Rayne and Oyne Fork.


Junction bollard and verge marker improvements
Numerous locations over the last 6 years


Safety fence improvements and installation
Numerous locations over the last 6 years



  Future Road Safety Works

  

Measure
Planned Start of Works


Improvements arising from A96 Route Accident Reduction Plan
Route Accident Reduction Plan study to start shortly



  Other Construction Works

  

Location 
Completion Date


Dummuies junction stacking lane
2000


Bucksburn Landscaping Improvement
2003


Rumbuch to Bogbain embankment stabilisation
2004


New roundabout and road realignment by TESCO at Elgin
2004


New roundabout and road realignment as a result of development at Smithton, Inverness
2004


Footway construction at Mosstodloch
2004

Rural Development

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost to it was of producing Omnibus Survey of Small Businesses in Scotland 2002: Rural Analysis .

Ross Finnie: The cost of producing the Omnibus Survey of Small Businesses in Scotland 2002: Rural Analysis was £3,000.

Rural Development

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it has used the findings contained in Omnibus Survey of Small Businesses in Scotland 2002: Rural Analysis .

Ross Finnie: The results from the rural analysis were used by the Executive to improve the evidence base and to get a better understanding of how, if at all, businesses in rural areas differ from businesses in urban areas. For instance, the results were used in the production of our booklet, Rural Scotland – Key Facts , which brings together key facts related to rural Scotland in an accessible way, and also our Annual Rural Report 2004, which details our achievements for rural Scotland over the preceding year. This increased knowledge helps inform how we tailor our policies and interventions right across the Executive to make sure we take account of the needs of people in rural areas.

Scottish Executive Publications

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-15951 by Mr Tom McCabe on 20 April 2005, what the cost has been of publications it has produced in each year since 1999, broken down by ministerial department and into (a) paper publications, (b) videos, (c) DVDs and (d) miscellaneous publications.

Mr Tom McCabe: A list of Scottish Executive publications and their costs since 1999 is given in Scottish Executive List of Publications/Costs 1999-2005  a copy of which has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference centre (Bib. number 36555). There is currently no central record of the information in the format requested and it could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Scottish Executive Staff

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its officials in the highest 20% salary bracket work on a part-time basis.

Mr Tom McCabe: Within the Scottish Executive core departments there are 90 part-time staff in the highest 20% salary bracket.

Scottish Executive Staff

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its officials in the lowest 20% salary bracket work on a part-time basis.

Mr Tom McCabe: There are 113 part-time staff employed by the Scottish Executive core departments within the lowest 20% salary bracket.

Scottish Executive Staff

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on career development and training for its staff in each year since 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: The direct spend on learning and development in the Scottish Executive in year since 1999 is shown in the following table. The figures include expenditure on training events and the running costs of the Scottish Executive Corporate Learning Services.

  

Financial Year
Expenditure


1999-2000
£2.43 million


2000-01
£2.89 million


2001-02
£3.7 million


2002-03
£4.2 million


2003-04
£4.74 million


2004-05
£5.27 million

Scottish Executive Staff

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the length of time was of the service of the former head of its EU Office in Brussels, including the time in post to plan for, and set up, the office, until his early retirement.

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the former head of its EU office in Brussels was asked to step down from this post after the standard four years of service for a post of this nature, in light of the statement by its spokesperson in Scotland on Sunday on 27 March 2005 that four years was the standard length for such a post.

Mr Tom McCabe: The former Head of the EU Office in Brussels was in post from the establishment of the office on 1 May 1999 until his retirement on 31 October 2004. The nature and scope of the job changed considerably over that time. The timing of personnel changes is always a management decision based on the requirements of the post and of the Executive although four years is the norm for such posts.

Tourism

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to question S2W-15297 by Lewis Macdonald on 15 April and S2W-16232 on Patricia Ferguson on 5 May 2005 and given that the report of the Country Sports Tourism Group considered the value of country sports in general but not the specific value of shooting sports, whether it will reconsider its position and agree to measure the direct and indirect economic, environmental and social impact of shooting sports, in a similar way that the value of freshwater angling was measured in the 2004 research report, The Economic Impact of Game and Coarse Angling in Scotland .

Patricia Ferguson: The Executive has no plans to measure the economic, environmental and social impact of shooting sports. However, further to the answers to questions S2W-15297 on 15 April 2005 and S2W-16232 on 5 May 2005, the Country Sports Tourism Group has estimated the value of country sports in Scotland, of which shooting is an important component.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Vaccines

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, following the introduction of the five-in-one vaccine in August 2004, whether parents of children who previously received the separate oral version of the polio vaccine will be offered the oral vaccine and the previous four-in-one vaccine when a booster is due, in order to alleviate concerns that the new vaccine may overload the child's immune system and increase the risk of adverse reactions.

Mr Andy Kerr: The new five-in-one vaccine is the only vaccine available via the NHS against the serious diseases of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and polio.

  The previous and new vaccines are compatible, so children will be fully protected as long as they complete the programme of immunisations, including the pre-school boosters, in the childhood vaccination programme. Inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) has now replaced the live oral polio vaccine (OPV) for all routine indications, including the childhood vaccination programme. This gives less risk of side effects as the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) does not carry any risk of causing vaccine associated paralytic polio (a rare complication that occurred with the oral polio vaccine (OPV)).

  The new five-in-one vaccine for infants provides effective protection against diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis (whooping cough), Hib and inactivated polio (IPV). Vaccines for pre-school children boost this protection and include diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis and inactivated polio components in one combined vaccine.

  There is no evidence that the routine childhood combination vaccines overload the immune system. Vaccines only use a very small part of a child’s immune system and children come into contact with thousands of bacteria and viruses in the environment every day.